It should be one of the best jobs in cycling but Tour director Christian Prudhomme keeps finding his efforts to promote the world’s biggest race thwarted by its past. As much as he wants to promote next summer’s route he’ll also have to look back to the Armstrong years. These days no preview seems complete without a moment of retrospective regret.
A former journalist and broadcaster, Prudhomme is skilled with words and presentation so expect a good show – it’ll be streamed live on the web. The 2013 Tour will be unveiled with a message of hope for the future and a nod to the past, especially as the next Tour will be the 100th edition, le Tour du centenaire.
Only perhaps it’s time for the Tour de France to announce more than route planning? It won’t happen tomorrow but the race and its parent company dominate the sport like no other and hold the keys and the purse-strings to help clean up the sport. Nobody else has as much power.
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